Parents must monitor what is being taught to kids amid fears of woke teachers brainwashing youngsters, says minister
PARENTS must be able to monitor what is being taught in schools amid fears woke teachers are brainwashing their kids, the Education Secretary has insisted.
Gillian Keegan demanded “a big dose of transparency” to assure anxious mums and dads about creeping political bias in the classroom.
She said the “vast majority” of teachers treat their commitment to neutrality “extremely carefully” but that some public institutions have “lost their way a little bit”.
Tory MPs on the Commons Education Committee grilled her over reports that more than half of kids are being taught ideas like “white privilege” and “unconscious bias”.
Conservative Miriam Cates fumed that pupils were being taught as fact “theories that the wider population don’t adhere to”.
Ms Keegan said: “The most important thing is transparency. People should be able to see what we’re teaching children in schools.
“Parents should be able to see it, debate it, if there is a debate.”
She admitted “we may need to do more on this” as she suggested existing guidance for heads could be strengthened especially for teaching “biological sex versus gender”.
Meanwhile the Education Secretary confirmed she has scrapped the flagship Schools Bill following widespread criticism.
The legislation drawn up by Boris Johnson’s administration was opposed for giving Whitehall powers over autonomous academies.
But Ms Keegan said the planned national register of kids missing school is still a “priority”.